Depth gauging peach pitter



Jan. 16, 1940. A. R. THOMPSON ET AL DEPTH GAUGING PEACH PITTIR Filed001:. 29, 1937 Patented Jan. 16, 1940 DEPTH GAUGING PEACH PITTER AlbertR. Thompson, Los Gatos, and Richard Fox, San Jose, Calif.,

assignors. to Pacific Machinery Company, San Francisco, Calif., acorporation of California Application October 29, 1937, Serial No.171,734

10 Claims.

This invention relates to peach pitting machines, and is moreparticularly adapted to peach pittersfor removing pits from clingstonepeaches and the like.

I In the pitting of clingstone peaches there has for a long time existedin the art a problem with reference to the removal of the pits from thefruit halves while removing from the fruit halves a minimum of the fleshof the fruit where the fruit pits are intact and in what is known in theart as split pits. This problem has heretofore been fairly well solved.However, there always exists a certain percentage of clingstone peacheswith split pits, and during certain seasonsit has been found that thepercentage of split pits has been very high, resulting in ineffectiveuse of peach pitting machines which have been designed and constructedfor use of peaches having intact pits.

I In peaches having split pits there is apparently exerted a tendency onbehalf of the pit to embed itself into the flesh of the fruit. It hasbeen noted in some instances that the split surface of a half pit willlie as much as one-quarter of a an inch below the surface of the fleshof the split peach. It is obvious that under such conditions a pittingknife adjusted to remove a pit lying in its normal position would strikeand fracture a pit which is abnormally deeply positioned in the fruithalf, and thus shatter or tear out the fruit pit in endeavoring toremove the same from the peach half. f

In fruit having split pits, there is always exhibited a tendency of thepits to fracture into more or less irregular shapes, and to mush orflatten out, making it necessary under such circumstances likewise toremove a large slice of the pit flesh in order to insure that the pithas been entirely removed. i

In approaching this problem of removing pits from peaches, many anddivers suggestions-have been made, and there have been'used pitterswhich use surface contacting plates which contact the surface of theflesh of the fruit in an attempt to gauge the depth to which the pittingknife will penetrate into the flesh of the fruit. With such mushed,flattened out, or embedded pit halves it will be obvious that suchdevices, depending upon contact with the cut surface of theipeach halfin order to determine the depth to which the pitting knife will go, mustfail, or must in all cases remove from the peach half more of the fleshthan is actually required.

In split pits, even where the pits are actually split in a line ofsuture, it has likewise been found that the pit is not evenly halved.This is due to the fact,'as has been found, that in a great many peachesthe pits grow off-center in relation to the line of suture of thepeachgso that very often a peach having one large half and one smallhalf will have thesmall half ofthe pit positioned in the large half ofthe fruit, and the large half of the pit will be located in the smallhalf of the fruit.

In seeking a solution of this problem of removing just that quantity ofthe flesh of the fruit as is required in order to make a clean cut ofthe pit half from the flesh of' the fruit, applicants have discoveredthat the shell ,of a peach pit, measured from the bottom of the kernelcavity to the exterior of the surface of the pit, will not vary morethan .035 to.040 of an inch. Applicarits have also discovered that thekernel contained in the kernel cavity of a peach pit is relatively softin ltsconsistency so that it is readily pierced by a relativelyv bluntinstrument and presents no obstruction to the use of a depth gauge beingforced into contact withthe pit shell from the-interior of the'kernelcavity.

It is therefore an'object of this invention to provide a peach pittingmachine in which there is provided a means for positioning a fruit pit Iwith relation to a pitting knife by determining the position 01 theshell of the pit from within the pit cavity.

Another object of this invention is to provide a fruit pitting machinein which means are pro-.

vided for determining the cut to be made by a pitting knife bydetermining the position of the pit of the fruit from within the pitcavity.

Another object of this invention is to provide a machine for removinghalved pits from halved peaches in which there is provided a means forgauging the position of the half pit by penetrat ing the pit kernel inthe kernel cavity to thereby determine the position of the interior ofthe shell of the pit. V

Another object of this invention is to provide a machine for removingpits from previously halved fruit which includes a pitting means forcutting the pit from the halved fruit, and a means which is adapted tocontact the pit shell to posi- In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a plan view diagrammatic in character of a peach pitterembodying our invention.

Figure 2 is an enlarged sectional elevation of a halved peachillustrating a pit thereof likewise in section.

In the preferred embodiment of our inven-- tion as illustrated in theaccompanying drawing, there is shown a. peach half P in which there isshown in section a pit or stone S. The shell of the pit or stone,measured in the direction indicatedat D, we have found to be, as anillustrative example, three-sixteenths of an inch, plus or minus. .035to .040. The shell of the pit S includes a kernel cavity C in whichthere is positioned the kernel K. The kernel K is relatively soft sothat it may be easily or readily penetrated by a depth gauging meanswhich, after penetrating the kernel, will engage the inner hard surfaceof the shellwithin the pit cavity C.

Our invention is predicated upon this discovery of substantialuniformity of the dimension D in order to position a pitting knife sothat it will remove from the half of the peach P just the desired amountof flesh of the fruit in order to produce a clean cut pit cavity fromwhich theDit is removed, together with all the red center whichsurrounds the pit.

In carrying out our invention we have illustrated the same as applied toa certain construction of halved peach pitter. However, it will beobvious that our invention is not in any way limited to the pit type ofpeach pitter in which we may adapt the invention we have made. In theillustrated form of peach pitter shown in the accompanying drawing, apair of dividing plates I are shown by which the halves of the splitpeach are separated preparatory to positioning the same with respect tothe oriflces 2 of the plates 3. In positioning the halves of the fruit,any desired means may be employed, and we have herein illustrated a pairof holding cups 4 into which the halves of the peach are positioned andheld with relation to the plates 3. The cups 4 are yieldably mounted sothat they would yield away from the surface of the plates 3 and arenormally urged toward the plates 3 by means of springs 5.

The plates 3 are provided with smooth contacting surfaces 6 along whichthe halves of the peaches may be slid in positioning the same withreference to the plates 3. The dividing plates I may be of any suitableor desirable construction and are preferably mounted in such a manner asto have limited movement toward and away from each other.

A spring I is mounted upon lugs 8 carried by the respective plates Inormally acting to urge the plates I away from each other.

A stop means consisting of adjustable stop bolts 9 and a stationary stoplug I is provided between the dividing plates I to limit the separationof the plates, and cap screws II are adjustably threaded in bossesprovided in the under sides of the plates I in order to limit themovement of the plates I toward each other. In connection with each ofthe stops, lock means are provided as illustrated at I2 and I3,respective-- ly, for locking the adjustment of these stop members. Aspring pressure exerted by the springs normally urges separating platesI toward each other as determined by the adjustment of the cap screwsII.

Fitting knives I4 of any suitable or desirable construction are providedfor cutting the flesh of the fruit halves from the pits. The knives I4are carried by shafts I5, which shafts I5 may be supported in anysuitable or desirable manner such, for example, as by suitable bearingscarried by the frame structure.

Mounted on the shafts I5 are pinions II which mesh with the teeth in therack I8. The depth gauges I6 are adjustably secured to the shafts I9supported by the frame structure so as to be positioned in definiterelation to the orifices 2 of the plates 3.

Arms are secured to the shafts I 9 and extend away from the shafts IS ina direction opposite to the extent of the depth regulators I5 and carryat their outermost ends cam rollers 2I. The cam rollers 2I are carriedin cam ways 22. The cam ways are formed in a slide 23 to which the rackI8 is likewise connected.

The operation of the peach pitter embodying our invention is:

The peach P. halved by any suitable or desirable means such, for;example, as a saw, while held between the cups 4 is, by movement of thecups 4, slid along the smooth surface 6 of the separating plates I inorder to separate the halves of the peach and position the same withrespect to the orifices 2 of the plates 3. When thus positioned, theoperating slide unit 23 is moved by any suitable or desirable means in adirection indicated by the arrow A to cause the cam rollers 2I to ridein cam ways 22.

The first portion of the operation is to cause the points 24 of thegauging members I6 to penetrate the kernel K of the pit S to the depthof the interior of the shell of the pit S and force the peach half andcup 4 away from the pitting knife mounting by compressing the spring 5.Spring I will cause the plate 3 to follow the peach and thus steady thepeach half in the cup 4. The above described movement of the peachdepends upon the depth of the kernel cavity from the cut surface of thepeach. The pitting knife I4 then enters the flesh of the fruit and cutsjust that amount of the flesh of the fruit away from the peach halves asis determined by the operation of the depth member IS in pushing thepeach halves backward away from the plates 3 against thepressure exertedby the springs 5. Continued movement of the slide 23 causes the rack I8to travel with reference to the pinion I'I, completing the revolution ofthe pitting knives I4 around the pits, thus severing the halves of thefruit from the pit. As the slide is returned to its original position,the knives I4 return to their starting position and the depth gaugingmembers raise from contact with the pits. thus clearing the halves ofthe fruit of the severed pits.

It will be obvious from the foregoing that the position of the pitwithin the halves of the fruit will determine the extent to which thegauging members I6 move the peach halves back away from the plates 3against the pressure of the springs 5, thus insuring that the pit willbe cut from the peach halves with only that exact amount of flesh as maybe required in order to remove all of the red center from around thepit.

In order to effect an adjustment of the depth regulating member I6 asmay be required for example with different varieties of peaches or thelike, the depth regulatorsli may have their position adjusted on theshafts I9 with relation to the arms 20 to thereby adjust the relation ofthe depth regulators I6 with reference to the pitting knives l4.

Having fully described our invention, it is to be understood that theparticular embodiment herein illustrated and described is set forth forillustrative purposes only and our invention is Susceptible of a widerange of adaptability of difierent type machines without in any waydeparting from our invention as defined by the appended claims.

We claim:

1'. A peach pitting device for removing halved pits from the previouslysplit peach, including means for holding the peach half, pitting meansfor cutting the pit half from the halved peach, and means adapted to.contact the pit shell from within the kernel'cavity of 'thepit andoperative to move said'pit shell to a previously determined position.

2. A peach pitting device for removing the halved'pits from thepreviously split peach, including depth regulators adapted to contactthe pit shell from within'the kernel cavity to :inove said pit shell toa previously determined position,

and pitting means operativatolsever the halved pits from the fruithalves. 3. In a peach pitting device 'for removing a halved pit from thepreviouslysplit peach, fin-- eluding means for holdinga' peach half,depth regulating means adapted to contact the inner surface of the pitshelLirom within 'the'kern'el cavity and pitting means secured inoperative relation to the depth regulating means. for severing the pitfrom the fruit half.

4. The process of removing halved pits from the previously split peachcomprising the steps of piercing the kernel cavity of said peach andengaging the inner surface of the pit-shell with an instrument, movingsaid instrument to a previously determined position, and passing a knifein an are a previously determined distance from said instrument.

5. The process of removing halved pits from v the previously split peachcomprising the steps of engaging from within the kernel cavity the innersurface of the pit shell with an'instruinent,

moving said instrument and said pit shell I to a previously determinedposition, and passing a knife around said pit. shell so positioned.

I 6. The process of removing halved pits from the previously split peachcomprising the steps of engaging from within the kernel cavity the innersurface of the pit shell with aninstrument to determine the position ofthe pit, and then passing a knife in an are a previously determineddistance from said instrument.

'7. A peach pitting device for removing halved pits from the previouslysplit peach including means for engaging'the inner surface of the pitshell, means for positioning said engaging means in a previouslydetermined position, and means for passing a knife in an arc apreviously determined distance from said engaging means.

8. In a peach pitting device for removinga halved pit from a previouslysplit peach, means for severing the halved pit from the fruit, and depthregulating means operatively associated with the pit severing means.said depth regulating means being" adapted to contact the inner surfaceof the 9. In a peach pitting device) nie combination .of aholding'cup',an orificed plate, apitting means; .s-means for yieldably urging thecup-toward the or'iilcecl plate, and depth, regulating means opera-.tiveiy connected 1 with the pitting means and fgadapted to engage theinner surface of the pit sshellof a halved fruit as held by the cup tomove "said pit shell to a previouslydetermined position,

and means to then actuate the pitting means,

10. In a fruit pitting device, the combination of ;a pair 01 separatingplates having pitting orifices Itherein} pitting means positioned. to.operate ithrough said orificesgholding cups for-holding peach halves inposition over the orifices in said plates, and depth regulating means'operative through said orifices tldengage the inner surface ofthe pitshells ascairried in said *holdingcups to move saldpit-shllsjto apreviously-determined position, and inie'a'ns then actuate 'the pittingmeans. i

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